Húsavík is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast
of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,237
inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden
church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is served by
Húsavík Airport.
Income is derived from tourism and fishing, as well as retail
and small industry. Until recently, Húsavík was the export
harbour for silica that was extracted from nearby lake Mývatn.

According to the Landnámabók ("Book of Settlement"), Húsavík was
the first place in Iceland to be settled by a Norse man. The
Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarsson stayed there for one winter
around 870 A.D. When he left the island in spring of 870, after
a winter's stay, he left behind a man named Nattfari and two
slaves, a man and a woman, and they established a farm here. The
name of the town means "bay of houses", probably referring to
Garðar's homestead, which may have been the only houses then in
Iceland
Húsavík has become a centre of whale watching in Iceland due to
whales of different species that frequently enter the bay. The
Húsavík Whale Museum is located in the downtown by the harbour.

In town there is also a civic museum about culture and biology.
Among other things, it shows a stuffed polar bear (arrived in
Grimsey in 1969) and ancient boats.
Húsavík is also home to The Exploration Museum, a museum about
the history of human exploration. A monument honoring the Apollo
astronauts that trained around Húsavík during the 1960s is
located outside the museum.
The region of Mývatn, with its interesting geology and diverse
animal life, is nearby. Jökulsárgljúfur National Park with the
horseshoe-shaped canyon Ásbyrgi and the waterfalls Dettifoss,
Hafragilsfoss and Selfoss is also not far from the town